I love those contests where I do not need to crop a fictional story in my head or tire my brain muscles with a brilliant out of the box idea. I love the type of contest concepts when it becomes mere sharing my personal and memorable experience. Yes it does become embarrassing at times, but who cares. After all blogging is one space where we can be totally honest with each other.
So it’s about us, me and TBH and our beloved home. TBH was living in this nice big fully furnished flat from some time now or he thought so till I entered his life. That place was no doubt nice, but it was too packed for my taste. As the owners were living out of country we also could not dump their stuff somewhere else. That also gave a feeling of a used home, I mean I never felt it’s mine, it always felt as if I am using someone else’s space.
So the house hunt started and luckily for us we got a great deal in the same area which was our preference. The house had large window panes, large balconies, spacious, modular kitchen, and tasteful POP work in the drawing room. To our delight it also came with a centralized air conditioning system and above all has never been occupied before, and that gave a feeling of newness I have been looking for. The building secretary assured that though the owners have been kind of choosy with the kind of people they want as occupants, and that’s the reason the house has been locked for close to a year but he also added that we seem to be a nice couple he will give his word too. And a month later we got the keys to the house.
We were happy to indulge in the newly married things, setting up a home, choosing curtains, furniture of our liking. Organizing and using the cutlery our parents gifted us etc. But there are few things that you realize only after you start living in a place. No it wasn’t a haunted house like they show in the Hindi movies but it was a smelly house. A very acrid peculiar smell. It was mostly around the entrance of the house so in turn extended to the drawing room which was just next to the entrance.
It was a big setback. We kept on reasoning out and finding our own solutions. First we thought it is because the house has been locked for such a long period. We started letting the windows and doors open for long hours each day despite the cruel Delhi winters. After a week we realized it is not having any effect. We thought may be because of the centralized AC thing, they needed to be cleaned. We called the technicians and the ducts were religiously cleaned but no success their either. We nearly stopped using the first room of the house. We started keeping a basic room freshener just near the entrance, as soon as we are expecting someone or if our entering a locked house from the outside we made it a habit to spray copious amount of freshener. It was a kind of funny ritual, if both of us our out, one would enter holding the breadth, pick the freshener and spray it so that at least the other person is saved from the torture. It gave some relief at least temporarily, making our entry to the house a bit more bearable. As it is we had to stop using that room.
We had to gradually adapt living with it. There were days when some guest commented on the smell and we had to lie, it made me cry. You can clean the dirty floor, clear the clutter, make the house dust free but you cannot do anything physically to the smell. Once one of our decorative bulbs stopped working. It was those dim light attached to the POP which came already fitted when we rented the place. So we never had to look there. We called the electrician and to his and horror there was a dead bird stuck in there. I can’t explain in words what a creepy feeling I got realizing the fact that all this while I have been living and eating under a dead bird. But it also bought a sheer of relief because I assumed the smell was due to that. I got that area sterilized. Used a disinfectant to clear the whole house. But two days later the haunting smell came back to us. That was it. So much so that we decided once our three months advance rent period is over we will think about moving to another house.
Around two months passed but the smell did not vanish. The sister was due for a visit. She is extremely finicky about smells, cleanliness, and dust. I was actually nervous for the first time to have her around. She came, she smelled and she made a face. I was really feeling bad, but could not do much about it except for again spraying different fresheners even before she used to wake up. A couple of days later she accompanied me to regular grocery shopping and bought this Ambi Pur Set & Refresh. She said she has seen it at a fr
iend’s place. I was totally unaware of something like that. I mean it a Set & Refresh thing. You just need to set it and it continuously keeps spraying perfumed oil on regular intervals. Isn’t it great? Though it comes in various fragrance but the Lavender Vanilla seems to be our personal favorite and also of the guests who come to our place. The machine is so small and aesthetically designed that it looks beautiful even in our drawing room. We also put it off when we travel or just like that for some days, and you will not believe the peculiar acrid smell from where it all started has automatically vanished. May be it just needed time, but the Ambi Pur kit saved our grace during that time. I am away from home otherwise would have happily shared my drawing room pic. For now, Pic courtesy: www.google.com/images
You might want to visit their Facebook page for more details. Indiblogger and Ambi Pur India is also giving away free sample if you have not already experienced the difference.
And finally for us it felt like home.
Some Honest Writing 